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The fatherhood football is being fumbled. In the U.S., 24-million children are being raised apart from their fathers. 40 percent of the kids of divorced parents haven't seen their fathers in the past year. Tragically, in too many cases, even when dad lives with his children, he is emotionally absent. The negative consequences of all of this for children, families, communities and the nation are many. Yes, there are many mothers doing a fine job of raising their children without much help. But that is not the Creator's plan for the family. God's perfect plan is for mothers and fathers to work in partnership to provide their children every needed resource to grow up happy, safe and healthy.

​Children do better on just about every measure when they have a loving, committed, engaged, skilled father in their lives, even when the parents aren't romantically involved. It's time to recover the fatherhood football. The Church can and should lead the way. We can start by raising-up an army of Christian fathers who model God's deep and powerfully nurturing love. His desire is to work within our hearts to produce fully-developed agape love by the power of the Holy Spirit. Eli Williams is a husband, father and minister. He is the president and cofounder of Urban Light Ministries in Springfield, Ohio.

ULM provides a weekly after school program that serves 800 children. ULM operates a growing fatherhood program that annually impacts over 500 dads and their kids in the Dayton region. He is the CEO of Fatherhood Ohio, a foundation that raises awareness and funding for fatherhood programs and community mobilization initiatives. A veteran broadcaster, Williams writes and hosts the radio ministry Hot Gospel 20, a weekly gospel countdown show heard on traditional and Internet radio stations, and via mobile app.

Bio

Eli Williams is a husband of 35 years, a bio dad, adoptive dad, stepdad, and grandfather. He leads the nonprofit organization Urban Light Ministries. His passion for fatherhood is fueled, in part, by the need he has seen over the last 25 years of working with children through ULM's The Sonshine Clubs after school program. Research shows children do better on just about every measure when they have a loving, committed, engaged, skilled father in their lives. The love and commitment of fathers is the key. That’s why he wrote the book Father Love – The Powerful Resource Every Child Needs. See the book website for more information.www.thefatherlovebook.com.

Urban Light actually addresses the father absence and family fragmentation crisis by helping fathers develop healthy parenting and relationship skills. Learn more atwww.urbanlight.org.

It is indeed a crisis. In the U.S., 24-million children are being raised apart from their fathers. 40 percent of the kids of divorced parents haven’t seen their fathers in the past year. Tragically, in too many cases, even when dad lives with his children, he is emotionally absent. The negative consequences of all of this for children, families, communities and the nation are many. Yes, there are many mothers doing a fine job of raising their children without much help. But that is not the Creator’s original design for the family.

God’s perfect plan is for mothers and fathers to work in partnership to provide their children every needed resource to grow up happy, safe and healthy – whenever possible. Kids need a loving, committed, engaged, skilled father in their lives, even when the parents aren’t romantically involved. And even when there is a father-figure present, boys and girls still long for a relationship with their biological dad.
​Reverend Williams is an ordained minister and owner of EWilliamsCommunications. A 37-year broadcasting veteran, Eli’s Hot Gospel 20 is a weekly countdown of the top gospel songs of the week, and is carried by Internet and traditional radio stations worldwide. Listen atwww.hotgospel20.com. ​